Houston

Neighborhoods

Downtown Houston

The Epicenter of Activity, Culture and Sports

If there was one area of Houston that has made the biggest improvement over the last 5-10 years, it would most certainly be Downtown Houston, which has become a mecca for locals to revisit with open arms.

The past two decades have been busy for the area, with more than $9 billion going towards the vision of what is now a culturally diverse and bustling Downtown Houston. It’s a creative hub, a vibrant place to live and play with over 1.8 million square feet of convention space, 81,000 sports/concert venue seats, and 12,000 theatre district seats. Another unique thing about Downtown Houston is the tunnel system, where there are 6.5 miles of tunnel systems that connect 65 buildings.

In fact, there’s so much to see and do in Downtown Houston, the area has been broken down into a number of “districts,” including the Theater District, Historic District, Shopping District, Skyline District, Warehouse District, Ballpark District and many others. The area is huge, as most downtowns usually are, but this one in particular has 150,000 jobs in just 1.84 square miles, obviously the largest concentration of employment in the whole region. That means there needs to be parking, convenient transit options, lots to see and do, and definitely a lot of places to eat.

Luckily Downtown Houston has it all – and then some.

Hotels:

Downtown offers an extreme variety of hotel options from boutique to chain, especially with the planning of the Houston Super Bowl. There are now more than 24 hotels in the area, with some brand-new openings, like Marriott Marquis, JW Marriott and a few others. For historic hotel options, check out Hotel Icon, The Sam Houston Hotel or Magnolia Hotel.

Food:

The availability of culinary delight in Downtown Houston is from another world, literally. The area boasts the most diverse sampling of menus. Just to name a few, Oxheart, The Honeymoon, Artista, and Phoenicia & MKT Bar (which is a local favorite for those downtown workers). Side note: there are over 300 restaurants in Downtown Houston alone, so you’re likely never going to run out of options.

To do:

With over 10 million visitors annually to Downtown, the area strives to make sure there’s no shortage of things to see and do. If you’re into sports, you’ve got that option (thanks to the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros). Dining and bar options are practically unlimited in the area. You’ve got multiple theatres, concert galore and community activities practically every single weekend. If you’re still looking for stuff to do in the area, check out this article on 5 of Downtown’s Best Kept Secrets (hint: one includes a fun arcade that is literally a hidden gem).

So it’s time to go enjoy Downtown Houston the way the rest of us do. If it’s been a while or you’ve never been, have fun exploring.